23 UK pension funds feature in the top 300 schemes, representing 4.2%, including the Universities Superannuation Scheme which ranks in 41st place with $111bn (£96bn) in assets
Pension funds are under immense pressure amid slowing growth and rising inflation despite ample growth of assets, according to the Thinking Ahead Institute’s report on the largest 300 pension funds globally.
Assets under management (AUM) of the top 300 pension funds rose to $23.6trn (£20.5bn), having grown by 8.9% during the year.
23 UK pension funds feature in the top 300 schemes, representing 4.2%, including the Universities Superannuation Scheme which ranks in 41st place with $111bn (£96bn) in assets.
Also in the top 300 are Tesco, BBC, BT Group, Lloyds Banking Group, Electricity Supply Pension, Railways Pensions, Barclays, BP, and Greater Manchester.
The other UK schemes are British Airways, Strathclyde, Honeywell, BAE, Shell, British Coal, West Midlands, Aviva, National Grid, and West Yorkshire.
In Europe, defined benefit funds account for most assets (51%), whereas defined contribution pension funds dominate in other regions.
Despite growth in their assets, Thinking Ahead Institute co-head Marisa Hall warned of the vast pressures facing pension funds in the challenging macro-economic environment: Looking ahead, rising inflation and subsequent central bank action are likely to cause global growth to falter, which may in turn endanger longer term the funding status of pension funds.
The addition of stark short-term economic pressures alongside these structural long-term changes will only add to the difficulty of balancing short-term financial resilience with long-term financial and climate sustainability, she said.
Hall added that asset allocation is continuing to respond to long-term structural shifts.
She said: While allocations to private markets declined compared to the previous year, we believe this was mostly caused by shorter-term inflationary and rate-hike fears. We expect private markets will continue to expand considerably in the investment space over the long term, reflecting a need for new primary investment to support new models of sustainable economic growth.